What Comes After A Trillion?

It is getting to the point where raising the debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion doesn't draw a yawn from the Democrats. The number, added to the $12 trillion already on the books under the Obama administration's Keynes on Steroids monetary policy, almost has no meaning.

But the Connecticut Congressional team of Rosa DeLauro, Jim Himes (maybe), Chris Murphy, Joe Courtney and John Larson, are ready to support Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hike the debt load before Christmas. And the D-Team has also offered no opposition to the Obama administration's desire to take $325 billion in returned Troubled Asset Relief Program and pump it back into predetermined recipients. The initial $700 billion TARP program, while supported by Republicans and Democrats alike, has become one of the great government-run ripoffs of all time, allowing Wall Street and banks to cover their bone-headed investments while grabbing big profits and bonuses without any risk.

But the play of the week in Congress occurred Wednesday when the D-Team, save Himes, pulled another bait and switch that will cripple any ideas of capital investment nationally but especially in high-tech Connecticut. It came Wednesday on House Bill 4213, which had a good idea on the front side to extend expiring tax provisions through 2010, including the tax credit for research and development and various other incentives.

But then, in the same bill, the Democrats wiped that out and then some, by modifications to the tax rate on investment management services and reporting requirements for foreign financial institutions. It also set capital gains rate at 35percent from 15 percent for venture capitalists who invest in technology start-ups!!

The Wall Street Journal called this going from "Zero to 35 in 24 hours," in an editorial that exposed this canard.

According to the Journal, private equity fund managers and managers of real estate partnerships would get hit with a 133 tax increase. That is why Jim Himes couldn't hit that red button fast enough. But it won't save him. Himes has been exposed for what he is, a clueless empty suit who can't stop the Democrat's plundering of wealth no matter how much he apologizes.

The Democrats truly believe they can spend the country back into the black. But there are other turds in the punch bowl to fish out that might delay that theory.

The Government National Mortgage Association,a.k.a. Ginnie Mae is another financial sinkhole about to be unearthed. The Washington Post did so Friday, laying out a disturbing picture of billions in bad mortgages spun into securities and sold with the full faith and banking of Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer.

Another problem is the continued weakness of the commercial real estate market, and each day, it seems, another large real estate holding firm or manager announces a property either on the brink or in court.

CityPlace II, one of Hartford premier office locations, and owned by Northland, sank into foreclosure.

One hopes the economy does turnaround. Many people are hurting needlessly and many are discouraged. But the current management of Congress doesn't see it that way. They view the recession as result of greed and monopolists, and the only way to cure that is to grab what they can and lord over the disbursement.

CT Dems Have Surrendered

President Barack Obama is our Commander-in-Chief and every American should give him support for his plans to send another 30,000 troops into harms way to get the bad guys in Afghanistan. It is not what the military wanted and the President's long-term hedging and talk of an end game might not be the most reassuring message for our men and women in uniform, but he made the decision and Republicans should stand with him. Most elected Republicans in Washington are doing just that, but not the Democrats - and that is disgrace.

Our all Democratic Congressional delegation revealed themselves for what they truly are - morally weak and cowards in the face of challenge that threatens our civilization and nation. The comments released by the respective Congressmen and U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd demonstrates an dangerous lack of knowledge about what we face as a nation and what needs to be done to insure our freedom and safety.

According to the Hartford Courant Wednesday, Sen. Dodd did his frequent verbal tic, saying the administration should "get it right," as opposed to do things "wrong."

"While I remain skeptical about the prospect of sending another 30,000 American troops into Afghanistan, the president made a serious proposal tonight that merits careful consideration by the Congress and the American people," Dodd, a Democrat, said through a spokesman. "The most important thing to me is that we get our strategy in Afghanistan right so we can complete the mission as soon as possible."

John Larson, who wants to slap an surtax on people earning $150,000 a year to pay for the war focused on the retreat in his commments>

"I commend him for laying out the endgame and leveling with our troops and the American and Afghan people," Larson said.

But Larson added that he remains skeptical about the impact of a troop surge as well as "the commitment of the strategic partners in the region to achieve the President's objectives."

Chris Murphy gave the most duplicitous comments, wringing his hands about the commitment and then wrapping himself in the families of the military.

Murphy, D-5th District, said he was pleased Obama that spoke of both a time frame for the troop commitment and the need to find a way to pay for the war. "In the coming weeks, I look forward to reviewing the president's plan and taking part in this important dialogue," Murphy said through his spokeswoman.

"But," he added, "no matter the outcome of the debate, we must remember that our most sacred duty is to ensure that our soldiers are protected when they are abroad, and that their families are taken care of while they are away."

Why do these people feel compelled to share this lack of resolve with the public? How would a soldier from a Connecticut National Guard unit or regular military react when he reads that his or her Congressman seems resigned to defeat? You don't have to read Jane's to understand this isn't a drill.

Someone is going to get hurt, indeed, killed because of this kind of half-baked channelling of Neville Chamberlain. The situation in Afghanistan is pretty simple - armed extremists who used the Pakistani border and territory to mount offensives against the civilians while trying to kill Americans soldier.

Now that the Taliban, Al-queda and others know the will of the Democratic Congress is tepid at best, there are more than willing to play the waiting game.

The President, who promised to invade Pakistan if it came to that, didn't give the hard sell at West Point last night, but even he knows the stakes are this - either take these killers on their turf and wipe them out or be prepared to pay an ever greater price. Whether President Obama has the stomach to hang in there will determine whether he wants to led the whole country or play to the liberal mob.

But then again, this same team of Dodd, Murphy and Larson, plus Rosa DeLauro, Joe Courtney and Jim Himes think we are back to treating this threat like the Taliban are bank robbers or check kiters. They support the civilian trials in New York City and they don't believe the Fort Hood attacks are a result of nothing more than crazed, loner gunman afraid to be shipped overseas.

For those who care to remember, we have been here before:

Sometimes, Bigger is Not Better

Yesterday, I ran for the 20th something time in the 73rd Annual Manchester Road Race, the fourth oldest race in the New England which is a holiday tradition for many has-been athletes such as yours truly. The course is a 4.78-mile loop that starts and ends in the center of the Silk City, that could still serve as a location for any movie set in the 1950's.

It has also been called the longest holiday keg party in Connecticut, because the course is lined with people on their third kinger and first deck of Taryton's, many of whom watch with glee as many stumble up Highland Street to the noise of bag pipes and AC DC.

Many dress up in costumes. Many walk and others drink and run. It's all a lot of fun. There are numerous parties after, including the Hungry Tiger bar and the big throw down at the Army and Navy Club.

This year, there was a record field, almost 14,000 people took part and $100,000 was raised for local charities. All good stuff, except the race turned into a four-alarm fire drill. The course is mostly along a narrow street and though race organizers try and segregate the elite runners from the slow pokes, they didn't enforce the rule.

Strollers, which are forbidden and are simply annoying (especially when someone beats you pushing 80 pounds of drooling, crying children) , were everywhere as where dogs. Walkers jammed in the front with runners and many simply had no business being in the field either through obvious infirmity or inebriation.

The first 2,000 or so runners were able to actually compete and run. The rest of the field resembled the crowd in 1943 who tried to get out of the Coconut Grove Nightclub in Boston.

People were elbowing each other, banging into elderly runners, stepping in endless piles of dog shit and tripping over strollers. Along the first mile, hundreds of runners scooting up on private lawns to pass the slower herd, making green turf into Packer's mud and kicking over private property.

It took almost to the three-mile mark for people who run at a eight-minute clip to emerge from this sea of humanity. Now, there are no more self-obsessed athletes than runners - good runners, mediocre runners and bad runners. The slower the runner, the more insufferable the conversation at the starting line and the finishing chute. Runners complain about everything to explain their lousy times, but this year, they had a point.

So, if for nothing else but to stop the endless bitching by the hyper-absorbed nine-minute plodder, the race organizers should cut the field to 10,000 and try and keep it at that.

No one runs the Manchester Road Race for time, except those from other continents who weigh 80 pounds, but the least someone can expect for their $25 is not to clean Fido's revenge from your cleats while cold-cocking some one's Grandmother to get a drink of water.

And, add a few more Port-O-Johns for the effort, okay?

The President's Sad Tune

You get the feeling that the air is escaping from the self-inflated Obama dirigible of hype over substance, prose or policy and imagery over realty. Yesterday, President Obama did his usually fine job of speaking, but if you listened to the words, his presentation rang hallow.

The President's songs remind me of old fashioned FM radio, where listeners were subjected to the same tunes over and over again, until one simply accepted them as noise. It was later, we found out that disc jockey's were paid under-the-table to pump the records.

Gallup and Rasmussen both showed the Republican winning the generic Congressional ballot by four and six points respectively, an unheard of number given the circumstances. If health care is so critical and an overwhelming majority of American want the government in charge, then why does the Congress have its lowest rating ever at 21 percent? President Obama is now at 46 percent, according to Rasmussen.

People are scared. You see it everywhere in people's faces. The New York Times ran a story Sunday on Page One that said the "effective" unemployment rate wasn't 10.2 percent, but 17.5 percent, when you factor in those who don't apply for benefits or who have given up looking and are burning their savings and hoping for a gig. I run into people all the time who are either waiting to be laid off or know someone who is in their ninth or tenth month of idleness. This is a hard-core white collar Depression.

President Obama doesn't understand this. He thinks that it's about greed or some problem with the capitalist model. The printing of money, the bailouts then bonuses for crooked bankers and lazy investment officers, the anticipated seizure of our health care system and then cap and trade have frozen the investment class. Gold is now $1,111.00 per ounce and climbing.

The government took over the distribution of vaccines for H1N1 and have promptly botched that big time. Even in China, were there five times the people, those jokers have a handle on it. And we are not even in the heart of the flu season.

And, then at Ft. Hood, the country's largest domestic military facility, a base that one would hope had state-of-the-art security to protect from within and out, a medical officer manages to gun down 52 people with a pair of 20-round semi-automatic pistols before a local cop put him down. What has been more frightening than the success of this killer, is the level of denial from the President on down on its causes and lessons.

His inadequate reaction and remarks Tuesday were foreshadowed by his initial, almost indifferent announcement days earlier about the incident, when he spent many minutes acknowledging a crowd to a summit on Native American issues in a casual, joking matter then shifted on a dime to details of the crazed shooting. It was a spooky performance since most of American already knew how many brave soldiers had died at the hands of a Islamic-fanatic. You get the feeling that no matter what they put on the teleprompter, President Obama will read it without understanding the context or the audience.

In his words and deeds, President Obama believes political correctness trumps the security of our nation. Well, political correctness does indeed - kill.

President Obama said, that the soldiers, "were killed here, on American soil. . . . This is the fact that makes the tragedy even more painful, even more incomprehensible."

You wonder how stupid does this guy think we are? Incomprehensible? A troubled officer who was identified as a problem and potential security risk, who openly railed against the chain-of-command and the mission, consorted with groups sympathetic to the nation's harm, and his actions are beyond our President's comprehension?

Of course, there were the defenders of the President - Slate magazine, David Brooks of the New York Times and of course - MSNBC - the network of the liberally deranged.

So, hope and change has led to let's hope something will change. But nothing will change right now. The spending will continue and the President will still keep singing the sweet tune of collectivism and common purpose.

And less of less of us will have the radio on.

The Wall

Twenty years ago, everyone was caught off guard when the Berlin Wall became just another collection of cinder blocks, grout and barbed wire. The East German government announced it would no longer prevent people from leaving the country and seeking the west. Before long, Germans began to bang away at it with sledge hammers and picks. The cold war was over. Game, set, match to the free world, led by the United States of America.

When I noticed this anniversary was due, I thought back to a time when the world was divided into lightness and darkness and I got to see it up close.

In 1970, the Healy family took its first trip abroad, mostly to see the U.K. but at one point the family split up for a side trip. My mother and brother would go to Scotland, and my father and I headed off to Berlin. The Berlin Wall was only eight years old at the time, and my father wanted me to see what Communists looked like. So aside from running around the funky West Berlin, we took a tour of East Berlin, by ourselves, in a rented car.

It took hours to cross over through Checkpoint Charlie, the famed roadblocked where Russian and American tanks were parked on either side of the border. Once across into the Eastern side, it was very clear who was getting a better deal. Despite having a population of 3 million, the streets of the city were empty in the middle of day. There were no stores and only a few kiosks and restaurants, and they only took the very worthless East German mark. Another thing one noticed was the lack of advertising or art anywhere.

There were plenty of pictures of Eric Honecker, the Soviet stooge who ruled East Germany for all but a few years. There was no doubt who was in charge. Churches and other religious structures that were damaged during the Allied bombings of 1944 (26 years ago at that time) were in the same condition of ruin.

It was all rather creepy - quiet and desolate and devoid of the hustle and bustle of West Berlin where we retreated to at nightfall. Having grown up on the novels of John LeCarre, the entire environment was intoxicating. One could see people slipping in and out of the long shadows of an alley way or a dark avenue. People muttered on corners, smoking cigarettes before marching off with no destination in mind. But no matter how far you walked or drove, you always hit the wall.

When we flew out of Templehof Airport in Berlin in the evening, we gazed out the window and saw a large island of light and neon, surrounded by a sea of darkness. Only a flicker of light could be detected on the Communist side of the street. A fitting metaphor for what the world was like. That was before Nixon's detente and Ronald Reagan's robust assault on the entire Communist system, capped by his famous line - "Mr. Gorbechev, tear down this wall!"

Of all the gifts of insight my father has given me, none equals the four days we spent in West and East Berlin. It was where we saw one of the greatest conflicts and freedom's most compelling triumph.

A Big Save in New York State

Only the liberals can wish there is a split in the New York GOP when two Republican candidates collectedly pull 70 percent of the vote between them against a Democrat. Friday night, the insider appointed by New York Republican County chairman, Dede Scozzaffa, quit her candidacy for the 23rd special Congressional election, thereby giving Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman a chance to win and make history.

The bombshell was a gracious act by Scozzafa, whose withdrawal allows Hoffman, to receive support from the Republican National Committee and grass roots operatives around the state. It was the grass roots Republicans who expressed outrage at the selection of Scozzafa, who is liberal of social issues and not an aggressive tax cutter. Soon, national Republicans watched as Scozzafa wandered aimlessly through the district, failing to capture the unrest and frustration with the Obama administration's policies. Hoffman, who comes from a the private sector and is an accountant by profession, had a laser like message.

The parade of commentators bemoaned this development. They should because it shows how a principled, focus message (lower taxes, smaller government, a robust national defense) offered by a credible person (business owner, entrepreneur) is still a viable product for the voters to buy.

Hoffman has received many endorsements from national Republican figures including Sara Palin, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former New York Governor George Pataki, as well as numerous conservative groups at the local and national level.

The 23rd district has been in Republican hands since the birth of the party and it is a conservative slice of upstate New York. If the Democrats captured this seat, it would have cost the NRCC at least $1 million to recapture it next year - money that could be used elsewhere on a promising challenge race.

What is particularly amusing is how Frank Rich of the New York Times was so bereft over this, he spent his whole column talking about it Sunday. The real story is the Republicans are on the march, returning to their basic message and not tolerating pretenders who think they can get over by over a vague mixture of ideas that impress editorial writers but don't reflect the realities in Congress and across the country.

Our country is at war in two countries and our President is pondering whether to pull the plug in one location. The Congress is attempting to seize one sixth of the nation's wealth and put it directly under government control and our economy is teetering toward a double-dip recession - spurned by a collapse of the commercial real estate market.

People are pissed. They should be. Doug Hoffman is a smart guy who can read a balance sheet. There are not many of those in Congress. It all adds up for the people in the 23rd district and that is why he will win Tuesday.

Dodd and Rangel Share a Problem

The year-long investigation into the financial affairs of Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee are no different from the issues which face Sen. Chris Dodd. The only difference is Rangel comes from a district that would reelect him if he was making license plates upstate at Sing Sing. Sen. Dodd, as we know, is in the fight of his life.

Rangel, who has become the biggest joke in Congress, came to Congress in 1970 by beating another crook, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., when he won a bitter primary. Since then, Rangel has moved slowly up the leadership ladder, amassing fame and fortune on a Congressman's salary. Aside from living in high style on Lenox Avenue in Harlem in rent-controlled apartments, shaking down donors for his colleagues and foundation, Rangel also grabbed a cheap property in the Dominican Republic (sound familiar?), which is rented out and pocketed $75,000 the proceeds. He forgot to declare it on his taxes.

But Rangel's cheapest trick was to apply for mortgages on various properties in different states claiming each jurisdiction as his primary residence. This allowed Rangel to secure more favorable loan arrangements and here is where the parallel with Dodd rings true.

Sen. Dodd, it appears, also made similar dual-applications but made it worse by refusing to release the primary resident affidavit, which would clear up the matter entirely. Dodd, and his wife, Jackie Clegg Dodd, own a condominium in Washington, D.C. a family home in East Haddam, and, of course, the famed cottage in Ireland.

The Dodd's were able to secure two generous loans from Countrywide Financial, and initially declined to show the documents pertaining to it when the fit in the sham. But even when they did, there were no affidavits to be found.

It would seem likely that if Sen. Dodd had shown the affidavits, it would show that he and his wife claimed primary residency in both East Haddam and Washington, D.C. If it didn't, he would surely have provided them for public view. If that is the case, it creates numerous problems for him as it now does for Charlie Rangel.

Rangel has not only drawn attention to himself for not declaring $75,000 in income, but being surprised to find $5000,00 in cash in his checking account. Even the uber liberal columnist Gail Collins thinks Rangel is a joke. What a concept - you can't have a tax cheat writing the tax laws of the country!. Congressional Republicans failed to knock him from his perch Wednesday in a floor vote. Easy to see why. Almost every Congressman, including Connecticut's delegation, has received funds from Rangel's political action committee. Congressmen Chris Murphy and Joe Courtney have received healthy sums and have been loyal in return.

If Rangel is no good, then why can Connecticut allow the chairman of the Banking Committee, which writes the law pertaining to transparency of loan documents and adherence to filling out affidavits correctly, under penalty of fine, to apply for primary residency in two states and get away with it?

Those affidavits will become public eventually because the voters and the 2010 campaign will demand it. Then we will see if Chris Dodd is truly a Connecticut native or a D.C. denizen.